There is one more match in the Caribbean Premier League on Thursday night when the CPL 2025 bandwagon heads to the Kensington Oval for the first time as the Barbados Royals begin the home leg of their season against the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
These two could be forgiven for thinking their campaign hasn’t really started with them playing just four times in the opening three weeks of the tournament but they are about to embark on a pretty hectic schedule which they will hope to kick start with a win.
Barbados Royals
The need for a victory is much the greater for the Barbados Royals, not just because they are at home here and you know you have to maximum the home leg of your season if you are going to get anywhere in this competition, but also because they have failed to win any of their opening four matches. The good part of that is that means they only have one away game to play, which will be in Guyana, but the downside is that there is a lot of pressure on their home matches.
You would think that for the Royals to be playoff contenders they are going to need to win four of these five games at the Kensington Oval if not all five so it is imperative that they hit the ground running on home soil else this season could quickly fizzle out into something that they don’t want it to be. In the three completed matches the Royals have played, they are yet to score 180 with the bat and you need to be regularly getting into that range to have a chance in this competition.
Guyana Amazon Warriors
The Guyana Amazon Warriors have had a stop-start beginning to their campaign but that is nothing new for them. They often play their home leg last like they do this time around so they will know that the first part of their season is about jostling for position and making sure they are in place to launch a charge for the top four when they get back to their home ground. They have won two of their four matches to date and a third win here will set them up very nicely.
The Amazon Warriors have lost their last two matches so they will be keen to stop the rot but they have had a few days to address where they have gone wrong and you would expect a much stronger showing from them here. They have shown that they can deliver the fireworks with the bat needed to contend in this tournament and if their bowlers can get back to delivering their best then the beaten finalists of a year ago will be on course to go one better.
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Key Players
Daniel Sams is all set to be a big player for the Barbados Royals over the coming matches. This ground isn’t big enough for him when he has the bat in hand and his bowling, especially at the death, will come in handy as well. Barbados will look for a huge showing from him.
Conversely, Ben McDermott could take the game away from the Barbados Royals if he can get after his fellow Australian. This ground definitely isn’t big enough for him and he has the potential to start powerfully and carry his innings through to something substantial.
Betting
I’m not going to get too stuck into this one because the season hasn’t really got going for either of these teams but you would expect the pitch to be pretty good here with it being the opening match on this ground this term and that makes me think that the top order for the Guyana Amazon Warriors can have a bit of fun and with that in mind them to clear 50.5 runs in the opening six overs of their batting innings looks well within range to me.
Barbados tend to bowl seamers through the powerplay but even if they go with Chris Green he won’t be a secret to most of the Guyana batters because he has been a feature of their side in the past. It looks like Guyana are going to employ Gudakesh Motie as a pinch hitter while Ben McDermott will certainly go after the seamers and this is the home ground of Shai Hope who will come in at three so he will know every inch of this pitch. 8.5 runs per over isn’t asking too much in T20 cricket in the powerplay these days, especially on a good pitch and small boundaries. I expect Guyana to cover the line in this one.
Tips
Back Guyana Amazon Warriors First 6 Overs – Over 50.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
